The French painter Fernand Leger {lay-zhay',
fer-nahn'}, b. Argentan, Feb. 4, 1881, d. Aug. 17, 1955, was a major figure in the development
of cubism and a prime expositor of modern urban and technological culture.

After moving (1900) to Paris he worked as an architectural draftsman and a photographic retoucher and
also studied informally at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julien. By 1911, Leger had
become a key member of the evolving cubist movement. His personal style of cubism is characterized by
tubular, fractured forms and bright colors highlighted by juxtaposition with cool whites -- a decorative
scheme that conveys a sense of form in relief. Major works of this cubist period include La Noce
(1911-12; Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris), Woman in Blue (1912; Oeffentliche Kunstsammlung,
Basel), and Contrasts of Forms (1913; Philadelphia Museum of Art).
Following World War I, Leger concentrated more and more on
urban and machine imagery, which led logically to his association (1919-c.1925) with the purism of Le Corbusier
and Amedee Ozenfant. In paintings such as The Mechanic (1920; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa) and
Three Women (1921; Museum of Modern Art, New York City), he favored sharply delineated, flat shapes,
unmodeled color areas, and combinations of human and machine forms. After 1930, Leger's style favored precisely
delineated and monumental forms modeled in planes and set in shallow space, and he concentrated on depicting
scenes of proletarian life, such as his Great Parade (1954; Guggenheim Museum, New York City).

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